“Only by wrestling with the conditions of the problem at first hand, seeking and finding his own way out, does he think.” John Dewey (1914) I’ve often heard Kathy Swan use this quote when she has talked to teachers or students about the inquiry process. If you peruse the
Being a student again is a humbling experience. It reminds me of one of my favorite jokes from comedian Mike Birbiglia: “When I was younger and would make mistakes I would say, ‘well, I was young and stupid.’ Now all I can say is ‘I’m stupid.’” Feeling like you don’t
Since joining the C3Teacher team, I have written a lot of blog posts about the Taking Informed Action piece. I became a teacher for a love of the content, but my passion has increasingly become the way social studies can empower students to act. In the last couple months, being
During the National Council for Social Studies’ Annual Conference in Washington, DC, the C3 team held two meetings at the National Museum of the American Indian. Here, we met with strategic partners to discuss the C3 Hubs and the C3 Exchange, respectively. This is an important next step for C3
One thing the C3 Teacher team hears over and over when we introduce IDM to teachers is how they like the idea of it, but think they can only use it for certain classes: only advanced levels or for older grades or for one well-behaving class versus another, etc. Whatever
Whenever I have introduced a class debate to my students, there are two standard audible reactions: the low, drawn-out “Yeeeeeesssss” and the equally drawn-out, but more defeated-sounding, grown. “I’m going to win!” “This is going to turn into a fight” “I want to be on her side. She’s good at
Recently, I clicked a link on my Facebook feed that said it was a list of easy ways to de-stress your life. Seemed like a good idea for me. Nothing on there was too unexpected, but many of them I refuse to do. One was to give up coffee. No.
The Inquiry Design Model – Conceptual Principles: Provide tangible opportunities for taking informed action Though it sometimes feels like education is focused only on preparing students for their future jobs in the workforce, we need to be conscientious about preparing them for their job as active, participatory citizens. Remember that third
The Inquiry Design Model – Conceptual Principles: Promote Literacy Practices and Outcomes As someone employed in a social studies field, you are aware of how studying one of these disciplines is often discouraged, undervalued, and even, the butt of jokes. AND sometimes the attacks come from people IN social studies-related fields.
The Inquiry Design Model – Conceptual Principles: Disciplinary knowledge and skills are integrated within an investigation I have stopped buying my niece and nephew presents. I know, I know. I’m a horrible aunt, right? What I do instead is give them each a coupon for a date with their Aunt
